


We Keep This Love In A Photograph

by thesoundofnat



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-23
Updated: 2015-08-23
Packaged: 2018-04-16 21:07:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4640262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesoundofnat/pseuds/thesoundofnat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I put pictures of me kissing people in it. Particularly friends. I couldn’t help but notice that you didn’t exactly shoot down the idea when the others did.” He didn’t know if he was imagining Steve’s faint blush or not. “So I guess I was just wondering if you wanted to. Kiss me, that is. For the scrapbook.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Keep This Love In A Photograph

**Author's Note:**

> Also posted on my tumblr thesoundofnat.tumblr.com

It wasn’t a secret that Tony enjoyed sharing body heat with another human. He enjoyed the proximity, the tenderness, the feeling of skin against skin. Call him a slut all you want; at least he was having fun.

Sharing space with another individual came with several perks. It could make you feel loved and safe, and the thing Tony loved the most; it could make you feel the warmth of a mouth colliding with your own.

Tony loved kissing. He loved makeout sessions. He loved sticking his tongue into people’s mouths, and loved when people did the same. Ever since before he’d had his first kiss - which happened at 14, if anyone cared to know - Tony had had a fascination with it. Therefore, it wasn’t a surprise when he started kissing people platonically as well.

Rhodey had been the first, and since then he’d kissed most of his friends at least once. It wasn’t really a weird thing for either of them anymore. So when he one day came up with the idea to make a scrapbook of him locking lips with people, no one was surprised.

“I like making good times last forever,” he’d said with a shrug.

The Avengers were, of course, baffled when they found out about it, and most of them told him that they didn’t want any part of it. Tony respected that. He always asked people first. He saw consent as the most important factor.

He’d never been this nervous about asking anyone before.

When his teammates informed him that they didn’t want to kiss him, there was one person who had kept his mouth shut, and therefore Tony had felt the need to ask him. Steve wasn’t one to usually keep quiet.

Asking Steve Rogers if he wanted to kiss him wasn’t something Tony ever thought he’d do, but he definitely hadn’t expected to be freaking out about it.

He spent most of their morning meeting staring at Steve, then at the table, and then at Steve again. The remaining time was spent arguing against whatever it was that Fury said. Fun times. He didn’t know if it was a blessing or a curse that they were let out early.

When Steve approached him he was almost glad. He wasn’t sure he’d start talking to him by himself. He really didn’t feel like himself right now.

“Hey, Tony, are you okay?” Steve asked as they started walking together toward the exit. “You seem kind of out of it.”

Tony shook his head. “Out of it?”

“I don’t think you even knew what you were arguing about half the time in there.” Steve smiled gently when he said it, as if amused.

Tony grinned sheepishly. “I actually didn’t,” he admitted. “I was spaced out for most of it all.”

Steve gave a laugh. “I figured.” They walked in silence for a few seconds. “So, anything on your mind? If you wanna talk and stuff…” He trailed off, staring straight ahead.

Tony inhaled sharply. “Actually there is something I wanted to ask you-” A hand slapping him hard between his shoulderblades made him let out a small yell, the rest of his sentence lost.

“How about some brunch, eh?” Clint said, bouncing on his feet. “Nat said you owed us food for being so unbelievably annoying, Stark.”

Tony, agitated and aggravated and anxious and every other word starting with an a, managed to keep his voice calm when he said, “Only if you buy the liquor later tonight for being so incredibly inconvenient.”

Clint didn’t know what he meant, but accepted it with no questions. He wasn’t going to object free food.

When they returned to the Avengers Tower after having feasted on pancakes and egg and bacon, Tony automatically made his way toward his lab, having forgotten all about kissing Steve until Steve himself stopped him.

“You said you wanted to ask me something.”

Tony froze mid step, looking at him with wide eyes. “Wha-”

“Before Clint interrupted. You wanted to ask me something.”

Tony recovered and stuffed his hands in his pocket, as cool as ever, of course. “Oh. Right. Well, forget it. It’s not important anyway.”

“I think it is,” Steve insisted, taking a step toward him. “You seemed distracted all morning.”

Tony suddenly felt flustered. “Can we at least take this in the kitchen? I don’t want to be interrupted again.”

Steve nodded. “Of course.”

Tony had a hard time finding his words once they were completely alone.

“So, there’s something I’ve wanted to ask you,” he started, even though he knew that Steve already knew this. “You can totally reject this, uh...proposal, by the way.”

Steve waited patiently for him to continue.

“What I wanted to ask was… You know my scrapbook, right?”

Steve’s eyebrows gave a little twitch in surprise, but he merely nodded.

“I put pictures of me kissing people in it. Particularly friends. I couldn’t help but notice that you didn’t exactly shoot down the idea when the others did.” He didn’t know if he was imagining Steve’s faint blush or not. “So I guess I was just wondering if you wanted to. Kiss me, that is. For the scrapbook.”

Steve didn’t reply immediately, and it was enough for Tony to start planning on running for the hills. But then came the quiet, almost shy, “I’d love to,” and Tony was back to fumbling for words.

“Great!” he said, a bit too high pitched. “I’ll go get my camera.”

Tony had never been nervous about kissing someone for the scrapbook before. Steve didn’t seem too calm either. He was wringing his hands together and shifting from foot to foot as Tony set up the camera. Normally someone took the pictures for him, but he wasn’t about to ask anyone to be present for this. It felt too intimate, for some reason.

“Okay.” He backed up, taking his place next to Steve. “Ready?”

Steve nodded, somewhat stiffly. God, he was probably regretting that he agreed to this.

Tony swallowed the lump in his throat. “I set a timer. We’ve got about ten seconds now.”

Steve turned his body toward him as Tony did the same. Steve was taller than him, so he had to crouch down a bit when he leaned in. Tony, in turn, stood on his toes, grateful that only his upper body was visible. They leaned in and their lips locked just in time for the flash to go off and the picture to be taken, but the kiss lasted a lot longer than that.

Steve’s mouth was so warm; his lips softer than Tony had expected. He tasted of coffee and mint, two of Tony’s weaknesses, and for a brief moment he thought that he’d never be able to enjoy them again without thinking of Steve. He didn’t quite mind.

Steve was a good kisser. It was noticeable that he didn’t have the experience Tony had, but the way he sucked on Tony’s lower lip, his tongue sweeping over it occasionally, made Tony feel dizzy.

Tony wrapped his arms around Steve’s neck at the exact same time Steve’s hands found the small of his back, pulling him closer, their chests colliding. Tony sighed into the kiss. He hadn’t had a good makeout session in months.

“You really know what you’re doing,” he mumbled when they pulled away.

Steve smiled sheepishly. “So do you.”

In a moment of sudden courage Tony asked, “So was all that for the picture?”

Steve flashed him a smirk. “Only if you want it to be.”

“Oh, I don’t.”

“Good.”

They kissed again. Photos like this could be found in more places than Tony’s scrapbook after that.


End file.
